Music

Art of Cool Project reaches Kickstarter goal to fund 2015 festival

An hour or so ago, thanks to The Art of Cool Project’s achieved $35,000 Kickstarter goal, Grammy Award-winning soul standout Anthony Hamilton will be joining the main attractions at the 2015 Art of Cool Music Festival in downtown Durham.

As the INDY reported yesterday, Art of Cool had only 33 hours to raise the remaining $9,000 it needed to ensure that its second annual festival packed the same classy punch as its first one. To reach the goal, the festival teamed up with the Charlotte singer Hamilton for a last-minute video announcement proclaiming his arrival. In exchange, he promised to perform the entirety of his classic Comin' From Where I’m From LP as an Art of Cool headliner.

Whether the campaign’s extra boost came from Hamilton’s surprise announcement, last-minute backers or private funders, co-founder Cicely Mitchell is relieved. “It feels good to have the community’s vote of confidence for the second year,” she says. “People really had a good time the first year, and it shows that they want the festival to become a part of [the Triangle’s] annual festival fabric.”